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History

The museum was founded in 1966, and grew out of the donations of the personal collections of Patriarch Mstyslav and Konstantyn and Olena Moshchenko. Since then, the museum collection has expanded greatly through the generous donations of many individuals, families, and groups, and now consists of over 15,000 items. In its early days, the musem displayed its collections in the basement of St. Andrew Memorial Church, but this damp space was not appropriate for items of such importance. In the late 1980s, an initiative was undertaken to construct a new museum building, and today a modern 30,000 square foot facility is three-quarters complete.

The archival collection is centered around the records of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the papers of that Church's hierarchs. These documents were in the possession of Metropolitan Nikanor, and were bequeathed to then-Metropolitan Mstyslav upon Nikanor's death. These materials include collections dating from Ukraine during World War II, as well as from the post-war refugee camps. Over the years, the archives have also received the collections of many individuals and families both famous and obscure.